How I (accidentally) fell in love with SALAD

when I was younger I ate a lot of salads but I also hated them back then salads were defined by absence absence of calories a flavor and a fun but over the years I picked up a few strategies that gradually turned salad from a diet food I dreaded eating into something kind of enjoyable until one day I woke up and realized I had become a salad person you know one of those really annoying people that actually enjoys eating salad so today I wanted to share my approach to salads we'll start by covering some of the most common mistakes that prevent your salads from tasting great and then we'll cover a couple of strategies to implement if you want to make salads a regular part of your life but before we do a little disclaimer while I do think salads can be very nutritious this is not a video on how to make salads so you can fit society's version of a perfect body my goal is to teach you how to cook the most delicious food not to promote diet culture so if that's what you're looking for this video and this channel probably aren't right for you okay let's get into it the most common mistake I see when it comes to making salads is using a store-bought salad dressing even if you don't follow any of the other tips in this video making your own dressing is going to do so much to improve the flavor and quality of your salad it's a secret that all the best home Cooks know and I make my own salad dressing I mix Newman's ranch with Newman's Italian salad at flea markets for a slight loss if you've never made a salad dressing before try starting with this simple lemon garlic vinaigrette zest and Juice two small lemons into a jar add a little bit of maple syrup and some Dijon mustard plus grated garlic salt and black pepper now add in your extra virgin olive oil and just shake the jar until the dressing is emulsified this formula is also super easy to modify so you can swap out the lemon for balsamic vinegar add in a shallot and you have yourself a terrific balsamic vinaigrette but you don't have to be limited to vinaigrette style dressings of course you can make a creamy dressing like a ranch or a Caesar my personal go-to when I don't have much time is to make a tahini based dressing because it's creamy and delicious but still really wholesome for the most basic tahini dressing add a good quality runny tahini to a bowl some lemon juice and zest if you like a little maple syrup salt and black pepper now you'll whisk in some ice water a tablespoon at a time until the dressing is smooth and creamy you could also add some spices like cumin coriander or chili flakes or finely chopped fresh herbs making your own dressing takes like five minutes and it is a guaranteed way to make your salad taste fresher more complex and more enjoyable by the way I've created a complete written guide on how to master salads at home it includes a step-by-step formula that I personally use to whip up fantastic salads and the strategies you need to incorporate salad into your life on a regular basis it has a ton of information that I didn't have time to include here and I'll talk more about the guide later in this video the next mistake you need to avoid is picking a boring base for your salad most people tend to pick just one lettuce when they make a salad but rarely does that single lettuce offer everything you want in a salad and if you want to become a salad person you got to be a little more creative luckily there are several ways to do this first try using more than just one type of salad green this works particularly well if you have salad greens that have contrasting textures or flavors so maybe you pair a soft lettuce like butter lettuce with a crunchy lettuce like Romaine or pair a peppery bitter arugula with a milder flavored mesclimb there's also no rule that you need to make lettuce the base of your salad to begin with there are lots of raw vegetables that I think make really fun and exciting bases for your salads things like sliced heirloom tomatoes in the summer smashed cucumbers shamed fennel carrot ribbons and finely chopped broccoli if you want to cook your vegetables I really like blanching asparagus snap peas green beans and carrots fresh herbs are another wonderful addition to your salad base I love using soft herbs like basil mint parsley dill and cilantro fresh herbs are especially helpful to add when your salad greens aren't that exciting and if it's fall or winter consider pairing any of the above options with something like roasted vegetables or whole grains for something that's a little heartier in Winter I particularly like to pair shredded massaged kale with a whole grain like Faro or brown rice the next mistake you need to avoid is making a salad without textural variety if you make a with like just baby spinach and cherry tomatoes it's gonna be a pretty repetitive chewing experience it'll get boring real quickly I think of there being four main textures to look out for when you're building a salad crisp creamy chewy and crunchy a good salad will typically have a minimum of two of those textures ideally three and of course four is always welcome I think crisp textures are the easiest to achieve with salads because so many raw vegetables have that nice fresh crisp bite and so do some lettuces like Romaine little gem and Iceberg which iceberg is pretty useless but it does have that nice crisp texture if you don't have a crisp lettuce try adding something like shaved fennel carrots or Kohlrabi some snap peas or even sliced apples avocado is probably the easiest way to add creaminess to your salad without any extra work and it doesn't hurt that avocado works well with most salads but you can also add creaminess through a dressing like that tahini based dressing I showed you earlier a nut based dressing or something like ranch dressing dried fruit is a fun way to add little pops of chewiness and sweetness to your salad things like tart-dried cherries or chopped apricots or chopped dates raisins can be nice if you like them I know some people hate them so don't come for me in the comments if you're a raisin hater I also really like chopped sun-dried tomatoes in Italian or mediterranean-ish salads and certain whole grains like farro and wheat berries offer exceptional Chew in salads as do some proteins like chickpeas and tofu now for my favorite texture and salads crunchiness croutons are an obvious classic choice and they are so easy to make at home so much better than store-bought all you need is bread olive oil and salt my other favorite are toasted bread crumbs like Panko and some olive oil they're buttery and crispy and crunchy and so fun to shower over salads toasted nuts and seeds offer a great crunch factor and are also high in healthy fats and fiber and antioxidants those are a great option if you're looking for extra protein toasted crispy quinoa and roasted chickpeas are great options they offer both protein and crunch and I've got a whole video on crispy quinoa right here another huge mistake is not making your salads hearty enough think about it if you make a little Rinky Dink 200 calorie salad for lunch probably going to be hungry in 30 minutes and you might even start to resent salads even though the salad didn't do anything wrong thankfully there are a few different ways you can make your salads hearty and delicious and still nutritious first things first bulk up your salad with some protein so if you're short on time even something like canned chickpeas or pre-cut store-bought tofu is fine especially if your dressing is really tasty but if you have a little extra time roasting or pan frying your own chickpeas or baking or pan frying your own tofu or making a pot of seasoned lentils will make your salad taste even better healthy fats are another great option for your salads because they're going to help you stay full longer one of my favorite options are roasted nuts and seeds but please toast them first you're going to get so much more delicious roasty flavor it's going to make the nuts and seeds crunchier to get more bang for your buck I don't want to see any raw unsalted almonds on your salad that's a definite note you could also add some of the ingredients we talked about earlier like tahini or avocado or some chopped olives if you're an olive person and don't forget to be complex carbs as I mentioned my favorite right now is toasted crispy quinoa but you can also stir in some cooked grains like barley or brown rice or Faro or some roasted winter squash sweet potatoes or carrots mistake number five is not incorporating seasonal produce into your salads this is something that should apply to all cooking but it's particularly important for salads where vegetables are on prominent display vegetables just taste so much better when they're grown in season they're sweeter they're more flavorful they're more vibrant and they're more nutritious if you make a salad with Supermarket beef steak tomatoes in February that's going to be a bad salad I don't care what else you add that's just a bad salad but if you make a salad in July with Summer tomatoes that you've got at the farmer's market that is a completely a different story it is so so delicious and this applies to winter months as well there are actually quite a few vegetables that are in season in the colder months that you can use in your salads for instance chicories or bitter grains like Radicchio on beef arugula those are all in season and winter you can also try making the base of your salad thinly shredded kale shaved brussels sprouts or finely chopped cauliflower or broccoli you can also supplement your salads in the winter with heartier ingredients like blanched potatoes roasted root vegetables or roasted winter squash all of these options will taste better than out-of-season salad greens and mealy Tomatoes plus they're going to make your salads a bit heartier which is what you want in those colder winter months perhaps the saddest mistake I see when it comes to salads is not adding anything fun when I was younger eating salads was an act of self-deprivation something I thought I had to do to eat healthy and be thin that's a horrible place to be when it comes to food and life and I'm really really grateful I'm not there anymore so these days when I'm making a salad I'm always looking for a little opportunities to sprinkle in something fun and there are a few easy ways you can do that first add at least one ingredient to your salad that you genuinely love even if it doesn't have a particular health benefit for me I love using toasted breadcrumbs with a mixture of nuts or seeds and some sort of spices if I have leftover stale bread I'll make croutons but if you don't have time to make croutons another fun option is to take a handful of pita chips and crush them over your salad crispy fried shallots or onions are another lovely addition if you sway towards the sweet side of things you can add some chopped medjool dates and if you prefer things on the salty side some chopped preserved lemons or Capers are a great addition another strategy to add more fun into your salads is to experiment with Cuisines so it's definitely helpful to have like your classic balsamic vinaigrette and red wine vinaigrette in your salad Arsenal but it's also really nice to have variety for instance you can make a crunchy asian-ish salad with a miso Sesame vinaigrette and spicy peanuts or you can try a Tex-Mex and inspired deconstructed taco salad with my fan favorite queso you can find both of these exclusive salad recipes in that written guide I mentioned earlier finally find ways to add color and Pizzazz to your salads that might involve springing for something you don't ordinarily buy like watermelon radishes or rainbow carrots or even edible flowers if it makes you more excited to eat salad on a regular basis it's definitely worth it so I have a couple more really important tips for you but before I get to them I want to discuss how you can use all of the information in this video you probably already know that eating salad is one of the best things you can do for your health you're eating more vegetables fiber antioxidants minerals vitamins all the good things but I realize it can be hard for you to take all of the tips and information in this video and put them into action it's not like you're going to be grocery shopping and then pull out your foam pull up this video and then skip to the section where I talk about the primary salad bases that would be crazy so to help you on this journey in a more concrete way I've created a comprehensive ebook that contains everything you need to know to master salad it's got all the the basics you would expect vinaigrette recipes creamy salad dressing recipes and five delicious salads with amazing textures and flavors you won't find anywhere else and while these recipes are amazing in order to really Master salads you have to learn how to improvise and this guide is designed to teach you just that so you can effortlessly throw together salads that are delicious hearty and good for you without ever having to consult a recipe so for example in the salad dressing section of the book I give you a formula for creating vinaigrette so you can easily swap out ingredients based on what you have on hand and in the salad based section of the book I break down the most common types of salad greens so you know exactly what you're getting in terms of flavor and texture when you buy them and how to pair them with the right salad dressing and this section also includes cook times for blanched vegetables whole grains and lentils this is the guide I wish I had when I was starting out my salad Journey it took me basically 10 years to become a salad person but with this book you can start to master salads in just a few days you can get this guide over at my website rainbowplantlife.com salad there's even a limited time promo happening right now you can get a full 50 off of your guide using the code YouTube I think that's a pretty great price for the amount of value you're getting by the way this is not the kind of thing that you look at once then never again everything in here is designed to be super actionable and used in your day-to-day life which brings me to my next tip if you are serious about incorporating salads into your meals more often you need to make a plan one of the most helpful things I've found over the years to get me to eat less takeout and to cook at home more often is to plan my meals on the weekend I'll sit down and start thinking about what meals I want to cook the following week maybe not every single meal but a general plan and during that process I'll think about how I can incorporate salads into those meals this sort of planning where you write down when where and how we're going to complete a task is what psychologists call an implementation intention and hundreds of Studies have shown that it's one of the most effective ways to act actually achieve your goals where their goal is to sleep eight hours a night see your family more often or eat more salads this doesn't mean I plan to eat salad five times a week certainly in Winter I gravitate towards soups and stews and curries so I might only plan to make one or two salads as a side to go with my meals but if it's summer and I have a lot of great produce from the farmers market I'll definitely plan to incorporate more salads including some of those main meal salads just this simple act of putting my intention on paper has been hugely helpful for getting me to eat salad more regularly and to order takeout less often in the ebook I've included a template you can use to plan out your own meals like a lot of the stuff in the guide you can easily print it out and stick it on your fridge so you can stay on track with your goals but even if the idea of planning out your meals horrifies you this next tip will definitely help you eat more salads and that is to do some basic meal prep if you take the time to do just a little bit of prep when you get home from the grocery store you're going to remove a lot of the friction of making a salad later in the week most Sundays I like to prep at least one or two make ahead components that I can incorporate into my salads during the week crunchy condiments or Toppers like toasted nuts and seeds or toasted bread crumbs those will stay good in your pantry for at least a few weeks so you can make a double batch or triple batch and enjoy them for quite a while another thing you can prep are raw vegetables for your salads most vegetables you can slice and store in the fridge in tupperware for a few days and they'll be fine the exception would be watery vegetables like cucumbers or tomatoes when it comes to lettuce the one thing I do every week is to massage the kale I buy from the grocery store as soon as I get home this ensures that I actually get some leafy greens into my diet every week instead of letting them Wilt in the fridge if you're not sure how to best store your lettuces and salad greens there's information on that in the ebook during my prep I also try to make one dressing most dressings will stay good in your fridge for at least four days and the acidic heavy ones like vinaigrettes those can stay good for up to two weeks one other thing I like to do is to to roast a batch of chickpeas these add protein and crunch and they'll stay good on the counter for a few days having these components prepped on hand will make it 10 times more likely that you will actually whip up a salad on Monday for lunch or on Tuesday for dinner instead of relying on takeout think of it as doing a favor for your future self speaking of doing favors for your future self if you want to make delicious hearty salads a regular part of your life be sure to check out my ebook at rainbowplantlife.com salad there's currently a limited time promo going on you can get 50 off the guide using the code YouTube If you have any questions I'll be down in the comments section to answer them and they'll be back with a new video very soon I'll see you then bye

Channel: Rainbow Plant Life

Views: 245,798

Keywords: salad dressing recipes, salad recipes, how to make salad dressing, how to make salad taste good, how to make salad taste better, vegan salad recipes, vegan salad dressing recipes

Id: xMmEZ-mE1iM

Length: 16min 1sec (961 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 08 2023